05 October 2010

Some of the participants in the September 21 media training in Vietnam

On September 21, leading journalists from the cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam participated in the third American Cancer Society advanced training for the Vietnamese media. This event was sponsored, in part, by Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. Tobacco control experts from the Ho Chi Minh Health Services Department and VINACOSH, a Vietnamese tobacco control nongovernmental organization, spoke about the difficulties of implementing the bans on tobacco advertising and sponsorship, and the need for journalists to take a greater stance on implementing the law. Charles Smith, an attorney and board member for the California Division of the American Cancer Society, spoke about his work on implementing tobacco control laws in the United States and the important role journalists play in keeping tobacco companies accountable.

During the training, the journalists visited various public areas in Vietnam (i.e. restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, etc.) and interviewed people regarding their awareness of the bans on tobacco advertisements and sponsorship. These journalists were then encouraged to use this information to develop articles for publication to their press outlets.

ACS Vietnam Manager Tuyet Ha-Iaconis and her team have been providing hands-on training and feedback to Vietnamese journalists for over a year to help develop their skills and provide them with international opportunities to expand their knowledge base. During this fellowship, ACS selected three outstanding journalists to attend the Asia Pacific Conference on Tobacco or Health (APACT) Conference in Sydney, Australia.

17 October 2006

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Knight Fellowship Program, which works to improve health and medical reporting worldwide, conducted a journalist “boot camp” October 14-16 in Beijing, China, at Xinhua University. A co-sponsor of the event, Xinhua University is a leading Chinese university with a robust journalism program. The “boot camp” was designed to raise public awareness by providing information on key public health issues to journalists from across China. Approximately 40 health care and general media Chinese journalists attended presentations from leading health care professionals employed at the World Health Organization, the CDC, the China CDC, the China Anti-Cancer Association, and the American Cancer Society. Keynote speakers included Dr. Christy Russell, a California Division volunteer and associate professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Southern California, and the Chinese Minister of Health, who addressed cancer and tobacco control efforts in China. This unique event marked the launch of the CDC initiative to reach global health journalists in key regions of the world and laid the groundwork for the Society to explore the potential of future journalist “boot camps.”